Shropshire MP opens up about long recovery from gunshot wound
It was two days before his 18th birthday in 1994 when Stuart Anderson was shot. He was taking part in a live fire training exercise on the Brecon Beacons when he heard a gun fire close by.His friend screamed and Stuart thought somebody else had been injured.Rifleman Anderson rushed to give his comrade first aid but quickly realised that he could not move his left leg, which now felt warm. That was the moment when he realised that he had been shot in the foot.
This report contains images of severe injury"There was no way of getting me down from the mountains and I was left there for hours without pain relief," he said. "They got me to hospital in Abergavenny and a surgeon told me that I'd probably have to have my foot amputated."I did what every hardened rifleman did, which was cry and ask for my mum," he said with a smile.A specialist surgeon managed to save his foot and all five toes over four separate operations, but the injury was too complex to ever fully recover from.
His gunshot wound was caused by a fault in the assault rifle, which the British Army used at the time.Another solider's SA80 had overheated in training and fired by mistake, an error which is known as "cooking off".Despite "having to learn to walk again," the 48-year-old, went on to serve in various campaigns, including Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Kosovo.He retired from the Royal Green Jackets, now known as The Rifles, eight years after joining the army and went into the security and defence industry.Then in 2019 he was elected the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South West, and last year he became the new MP for South Shropshire.But the pain in his foot would not go away.
"I was told after my surgery that I would never walk without a walking stick but I was determined to live a full and active life."Ten years after I left the military I had to pay to have shrapnel taken out of my foot."I've pushed myself to the extreme in multiple sports, but it away hurts.He said he received no support from the Army after he left, despite having 10 operations over the last 31 years.In January, he had his most recent surgery through the NHS to reconstruct his foot, but weeks later he had to have a follow up operation to remove two toes."I probably should have had the surgery 18 months ago but I was a whip in government during historic times and I didn't have the capacity to step back from that," he said.If the latest procedure has not been a success then he may have to have another operation to have more of his foot removed.
The MP is using his experience to highlight the suffering and lengthy recovery that many veterans face when leaving the armed forces with injuries."I'm a member of Parliament facing this, so I can use my position for good and raise awareness of some of the dreadful things that Shropshire veterans have been through," he said."Improvements have happened over the years but we are nowhere near where we need to go."Anderson has now returned to work in his constituency office but has yet to return to Westminster.MPs needing long absences of leave are able to ask other MPs to vote on their behalf in the House of Commons.They can also submit written questions and receive a response from the Government from the Commons chamber.
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